Improvement of mechanical properties of aluminum die casting alloy by multi-pass friction stir processing

An improvement in the mechanical properties was accomplished due to the microstructural modification of an aluminum die casting alloy by multi-pass friction stir processing (MP-FSP), which is a solid-state microstructural modification technique using a frictional heat and stirring action. The hardness of the MP-FSP sample is about 20 Hv higher than that of the base metal. The tensile strengths of the MP-FSPed specimens were significantly increased to about 1.7 times versus that of the base metal. This is due not only to the disappearance of the cold flake in the base metal, but also to a structural refinement, such as uniform distribution of Si particles. Thus, the application of the MP-FSP is a very effective method for the mechanical improvement of aluminum die casting alloys.